The Nation Newspaper

Tag: enemy

  • Dapchi girls, enemy’s poison

    Dapchi girls, enemy’s poison

    Nothing can justify the Dapchi girls story, not after we were irate that Goodluck Jonathan was dancing Azonto in Kano while the goons carted away our Chibok schoolgirls. It is not enough that the President does not deny it like Jonathan or calls it a disaster. That is no solace for the mothers and fathers and the community who threw stones as Governor Ibrahim Gaidam’s convoy whirred by.

    Yobe Governor Gaidam may have displayed optimistic naivety with his first press statement celebrating the rescue of some girls. But the media was also naïve for using the word rescue when there was no narrative as to how it happened. Were there shootouts, casualties, arrests?

    I accept Gaidam’s apology but not stories of our security forces who had no inkling of what was happening in a long stretch of land. No security forces saw trucks carrying many school girls, even if we accept that they came looking harmless into the town.

    This is an era when the top men of Nigeria security forces are fighting turf wars in Abuja, while the president looks almost impotent.

    Gaidam is taking responsibility for what belongs to the DSS and inspector general of police all under the presidency. The governor does not control the police or intelligence forces yet we call him the chief security officer. Hence some of our northern governors now back state police. Facts, Charles Dickens writes, is compelling.

    Gaidam should save himself by naming those who misled his government. Or else he will bell another foe’s cat, or eat the enemy’s poison.

  • WHO’S THE MODERN ENEMY OF NIGERIAN CREATIVE INDUSTRY? Attention: AGF, PMAN

    FOR long, we have identified Alaba Market as the active enemy of the creative industry. The inactivity of government, corporate organisations and development agencies was considered flaccid adversaries of an industry with immense potential than the most revered oil. All that can be forgiven, because we can excuse the past as a period of ignorance.

    Now that government is about taking the creative industry on a flight of purposeful destination, now that reactions are gradually building with re-energised interest by institutions like the Bank of Industry, Tony Elumelu Foundation, Inspector-General of Police and all, it is important to know who the new enemies of economic progress are, that have chosen to stall effort at spinning forward, from its present 1.4 per cent contribution of the creative industry to the country’s GDP.

    Now that government has discovered the new ‘oil well’ in the creative sector, now that lawyers are finding new clientele among entertainers with many of them making direct investment in film production and music labels and many more championing the fight against piracy, now that the banks are beginning to see signs of auditable structures and Return on Investment, now that the detractors of creative economy are thinning out, now is that time to identify the ‘crazy baldheads and chase them out of town’ (in Bob Marley’s voice).

    But how prepared is the creative industry for this new challenge that is about to place the engine of a segment of the Nigerian economy on their lap? This is no time for backstabbing and petitions, rather, for critical assessment of the state of the industry visa the new developments.

    An important part of this development is the fight against piracy for which the Inspector-General of Police has showed cooperation, but I see one grey area in the process, which only the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice can help resolve – This is by moving the Nigerian Copyright Commission from ‘Justice’ to ‘Information and Culture’.

    This was the opinion of stakeholders at the last Creative Industry Summit, and if the position of the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, is based on the cardinal principles of Progressive Change which is the cornerstone of the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, then the creative industry is on its way to Eldorado.

    But on the basis of ego and individuality that sometimes characterise our politics, there may be some hiccups. I pray that this should not be the case. Otherwise what would be the reason for the AGF to hold on to the NCC which has not fared well under ‘Justice’ since its creation?  I think a let-go will be fair to the ‘redundant’ members of staff of the agency who have had no clear record of success with anti-piracy operations and have often blamed their inefficiency on underfunding.

    I trust that the AGF cannot be selfish in this case. This is the Change government of Muhammadu Buhari and all hands must be on deck to develop this nation and achieve the much-desired alternative sources of income generation. The cause is beyond an individual or their ego. There are other major concerns for the Ministry of Justice to busy itself with, and the NCC cannot be the yardstick of its success. Far from it.

    Moreover, now that the entertainment industry desires some harmonisation, the best ground to resolve the little conflict in the roles of the NCC and the National Film and video Censors Board (NFVCB) is under one roof. Meanwhile, taking a look at the The Quartet (an association of the Nigerian Film Corporation, Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, NFVCB and NCC), the NCC is the odd one out. It is time all common-purpose agencies were brought under one umbrella and not play politics with productive initiative.

    Before now, the creative industry was crying over its inability to make international impacts having been restricted from treaties which is not within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Information. Now that it is rightfully under the Culture Ministry, and everything is looking bright and beautiful, the NCC misalignment shouldn’t be the snag, and the AGF should in the interest of Change see to this.

    On the other hand, I find it quite appalling that PMAN is accusing the Minister of Information of stealing its idea of a creative industry summit. And I think that the crisis that has rocked the association for decades is now taking the semblance of a curse. Who will deliver PMAN from this seeming ancestral spell?

    When a PMAN faction that is yet to be accepted by all is seeking relevance by being controversial, then there is need to question the wisdom of its leadership. How can an idea of a creative industry summit be the exclusive right of anyone or an organisation whether they had forwarded it as a proposal or not? I cannot count the number of summits of that nature that have been held in the last 10 or 15 years, including the all-inclusive annual Nigerian Entertainment Conference (NEC) Series organised by my friend, Ayeni Adekunle Samuel through his NET publication.

    I was not invited to the recent Nigerian Creative Industry Summit but I found my way there. That is what every progressive mind should do. If recognition was the grouse of the leadership of the PMAN in question, they should have simply attended and added their voice, if indeed they have anything meaningful to contribute. Musicians have fared well without PMAN in fortune and glamour for over a decade of its crisis. This is no time for unnecessary attention seeking. If PMAN, which lacks rave-making members, can tell me how it is more relevant to an average musician than the CMO, I will rest my case.

  • Paying the enemy

    Paying the enemy

    •Governor El-Rufai’s self-confessed compensation of Fulani herdsmen oversteps his duties

    The Kaduna State Governor,  Nasir El Rufai, raised some dust when he confessed that he spent government money to pay Fulani herdsmen to stop violence in southern Kaduna. The assertion was made by the government to justify his position that the recent wave of violence on the citizens of southern Kaduna did not come from the Fulani herdsmen but that they were perpetrated by mere bands of hoodlums.

    To make that confession shows that the governor does not know the limits of his gubernatorial powers. Although he can argue that he used the state funds from the security votes – but he has not said that – to keep peace in the state, he ought to understand that his powers are limited to actions within Kaduna state.

    He said the hoodlums came from outside the country and he even sent emissaries with funds to placate the criminals in their own countries.

    Hear him: “We got a group of people that were going round trying to trace some of these people in Cameroon, Niger and so on to tell them that there is a new governor who is Fulani like them and has no problem paying compensations for lives lost and he is begging them to stop the killing.”

    He said further that after his messengers had reached the Fulanis, “they said they have forgiven the deaths of the human beings, but wanted compensation for the cattle. We said no problem and we paid some.”

    There is nothing wrong in trying to put an end to a spate of barbaric killings of fellow human beings. In fact, such efforts highlight not only the humanity of the chief executive but also the constitutional responsibility. But what Governor El Rufai did went beyond his brief as governor of Kaduna State.

    First, any matter that involves foreign nationals is the constitutional prerogative of the federal government. Governor El Rufai said that the hoodlums who inflicted pain and tragedy in southern Kaduna were from “Niger,  Cameroon, Mali and Senegal, Fulanis from 14 African countries and they traverse this country with cattle.”

    Is this not a matter for the foreign affairs department? As a governor, it is not his duty to placate criminals who come to Nigeria to foment trouble. It is his duty to identify them and subject them to the law within this country if they are caught and arrested.

    It is clear he identified them in their foreign places, according to the report of the committee led by Gen. Martin Luther Agwai (rtd). If they were identified, was it not his duty to pay them or report them to their countries as interlopers and who commit murderer in our land?

    At a time when impunity has been condemned in all its dimensions, it is unacceptable for a governor to move into a foreign land and act as the representative of state rather than work under the rubric of a federal government.

    Since he is sure that these men did the havoc in southern Kaduna, it is not too late to follow the due process and report them to the federal government, although he seems certain they have stopped the killings.

    His assertion that his compensation now exculpates them from the violence in southern Kaduna without any arrests or convictions or even confessions from the culprits is a leap of faith. He linked the killings with that of Zamfara State. El Rufai peddled excuses without evidence. We still need to know the hoodlums before clear-cut blames can be assigned.

  • Between corruption and the judiciary, which is Nigeria’s worse enemy?

    Without a shred of doubt, the Nigerian judiciary has been more of a foe than a friend; it is too consumed with financial consideration which is the reason we have cases going on for decades in our courts.

      “I sincerely believe that the president as the Head of State and Chief Executive of the Federation, by virtue of Section 130 of the constitution, has the power to express concern and call on the CJN to explain what happened. “He can do this through the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation as the chief law officer of the state. In his capacity, the president as the chief executive can, through the AGF, direct the Federal Judicial Service Commission or the National Judicial Council, both as federal executive bodies under the Third Schedule to the Constitution, to query all the justices of the Supreme Court involved in this scandalous illegality.” – Lagos-based lawyer Johnson Esezoobo

    Much as I do not subscribe to  Lawyer Esezoobo’s anger-induced  views which form  the epigram to this piece, I haven’t  the slightest doubt that  some elements within the Nigerian judiciary must silently be thanking their stars that President Muhammadu Buhari did not come,  this time around, as a military head of state. When last Sunday I quoted Femi  Falana, SAN, ad nauseam, detailing how some members of the bar and the bench are doing everything to  undermine the president’s anti-corruption war, little did I know that worse was to come. For in the space of a few days, the Supreme Court showed very clearly that the Nigerian judiciary is not ‘ad idem’ with the president when he says corruption is capable of killing Nigeria. Nigerian courts have no qualms, whatever, giving succour to anybody standing trial on corruption charges as in the Ibori case, easily demonstrating how hollow the Nigerian judiciary really is.  But with sections 306 and 309 of the New Administration of Criminal Justice Act still live in our books, the Supreme Court decision staying proceedings in the Saraki case before the Code of Conduct Tribunal must take the cake in judicial infamy. It became worse, when Mike Ozekhome, an otherwise respected Senior Advocate, flew into unpardonable sophistry, claiming that though applicable at the lower courts, the administration of criminal justice act does not apply at the Supreme Court as if Nigerian courts operate different laws.  It doesn’t get more worrisome.  When I remember how fetchingly Professor Biodun Jeyifo celebrated the Act in his column in The Nation on Sunday of  23 August, 2015, even  bringing Falana in to validate his position,  I could not help conclude that  newspaper columnists , in our clime, most probably labour in vain.  All the same, could he have also had the Supreme Court  judges in mind when he wrote as follows in that article: “. . . this concluding essay in our series on effective prosecutions versus probes as weapons in the war against corruption in our country will focus on the Administration of Justice Act of 2015. Most Nigerians, including lawyers, seem either to be totally unaware of the existence of this Act or if they are aware of its existence, do not seem to have a grasp of what it would take to make it work”.  Did our Lord Justices become seized of it only when the likes of highly regarded  Chief Folake Solanke,SAN, Professor Itse Sagay, SAN, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN,  Mr Femi Falana, SN, Jiti Ogunye and Malachy began to vent their spleen on the Apex Court?   For space constraint, I quote only Professor  Sagay: “The new Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 has completely eliminated any application or grant of stay of actions or proceedings in criminal trials; it prohibits it. So, what the Supreme Court has done is illegal and it is shocking that the Supreme Court would indulge in illegalities. “It is a complete affront to the law that is binding on them (S’Court) and it is a bad example to the rest of the judiciary and the country. There is no question about that.”Now, we have to call on them to revoke their own illegality and that is a more difficult thing because pride will make it difficult for them to accept that what they have done is an affront to the law. But that is the only thing that has to be done’.

    Nigerians were certainly not surprised when the Punch reported in its Thursday, 19 November, 2015 edition that the Chief Justice of Nigeria may be disbanding that panel of Supreme Court Judges. It got so bad even Esozoobor thinks the president should play the role of an overseer over the judiciary – a complete anathema. But who can blame him?

    I think it is apposite, for a thorough understanding of how the judiciary continues to undermine  the president’s  anti-corruption war, that I conclude this piece  with Femi Falana’s views, again,  as I captured  them  on these pages last Sunday. Said Falana: “The menace of corruption is compounded by the impunity of the ruling class. It is, therefore, pertinent to join issues with the lawyers who are being used to frustrate the anti-corruption war. Although the NBA condemns corruption in both the bar and the bench, it is public knowledge that some senior lawyers have since been recruited to frustrate the prosecution of corrupt elements in the society. The president’s appeal to lawyers to help in the fight has since fallen on deaf ears as these senior lawyers are determined to frustrate the trial of corruption cases. In the past three months, several interim and interlocutory orders have been issued by the federal and state high courts which have prevented the anti-graft agencies from prosecuting certain highly placed individuals accused of involvement in corrupt practices and other economic and financial crimes. In fact, a judge in the Federal High Court has granted not less than 10 of such orders. I also know of a State High Court judge who has ordered the police not to charge some indicted murder suspects to court. From the information at my disposal, these illegal orders were procured by some senior lawyers contrary to the settled position of the law. Granting of interlocutory injunctions to restrain the police or anti-graft agencies from investigating allegations of corruption and other criminal offences is illegal, and unconstitutional, as no court has the power to turn any person into an outlaw in a country which operates under the rule of law. In Fajemirokun v. CCB Nig. Ltd. (2009) 21 WRN 10 the

    Supreme Court held: “In view of section 35(1)(c)(2)(3)(4)(5) and (6) and Section 36(1)- (12) of the 1999 Constitution which provide adequate safeguard for  the arrest of any person suspected of having committed an  offence, investigation of the allegation, and the prosecution of the  offender, no person has the constitutional right to be shielded  against criminal investigation by a judicial fiat or order.”

    In the same vein in the case of Dododo v. Economic and Financial Crimes Commission & Ors. (2013) 1 NWLR ( PT 1336) 468 at 510 the Court of Appeal held: “The EFCC and the ICPC enjoy the status of the powers vested in  the police that encompasses the duty to examine a complaint or petition, investigate and prosecute, if necessary, and that when a petition or complaint is made the statutory body, their duty to look  at the complaint cannot be suppressed.”  In spite of the clear pronouncements of the appellate courts to the effect no court can confer immunity on criminal suspects, high court judges have continued to frustrate the anti-graft agencies from arresting, investigating and prosecuting influential persons accused of involvement in serious cases of corruption, fraud and other economic crimes. No doubt, the lawyers involved in the charade are promoting corruption and subverting the rule of law under the guise of protecting the fundamental rights of their clients”.

    It is a shame that it is the same group of lawyers you find going the rounds, shopping for courts in all parts of the country, eagerly looking for unprincipled members of their fraternity who would do their bidding. I cannot forget in a hurry, both the late Mr. Justice Kayose Esho, and Aare Afe Babalola once saying, at the end of a meeting of the Institute of Arbitrators, a few years ago that many lawyers have become billionaires through bribes related to election matters. PMB’s anti-corruption war would go nowhere unless the Nigerian judiciary puts Nigeria first. Without a shred of doubt, the Nigerian judiciary has been more of a foe than a friend; it is too consumed with financial consideration which is the reason we have cases going on for decades in our courts. Nigerians must call their bluff.

  • Re: My daughter is pregnant for my enemy!

    HELLO Nigerians, I am most delighted to be with you again. Last Sunday, I published the story of Madam B whose first love and father of her first child was murdered right in her presence by Femoo, the father of her prospective son-in-law whom she had prayed would marry her daughter. Femoo not only murdered her first love, he also caused her a life of pain and anguish for so many years because her father disowned her and placed a curse on any family member who tried to help. However, God was with her and availed her a life of bliss and peace until she discovered the identity of her son-in-law-to-be. She certainly doesn’t even ever want to come in contact with Femoo, but, unfortunately, her daughter is pregnant for his son. She’s yet to tell her daughter or anyone else her findings and is secretly going through an emotional turmoil. She sought our counsel and a few readers sent in their advice.

    Dear Madam,

    Have you considered the fact that it is possible that Femoo has changed and become a born again Christian? That may be the reason why Tony, his son, is an “omoluabi.”  My mother once offered a course in a tertiary institution, and the title of a topic within the course was, “The good in evil”. The death of Jesus was an evil thing, he was a man who never sinned, so it was evil for him to be killed by anyone, but through that evil, salvation, which is a good thing, came to the whole world.

    And even if Femoo has not changed, it’s possible that God wants to use the union [ marriage ] of Tony and your daughter to break him down and change him. Let Enitan marry Tony, but be wise and prayerful. Let Tony’s father receive the good news that his son has found a girl who he wants to marry. Then at the appropriate time, as you are led by God, let him know that Enitan is the daughter of Dapo, who he killed. As long as you have prayed well, God won’t let anything go wrong.

    David Oyakhilome

    Temilolu ,

    Enitan’s mum needs to realise this issue has gone beyond her at this point. We as humans sometimes decide to deny others their happiness either consciously or unconsciously without weighing the repercussion. All she has to do is to sit Enitan down in the presence of Uncle Mark and explain the entire issues to her with utmost calmness, then give her time to think about it and get back to her with a response. We need to realise three different destinies are now involved (i.e. Enitan, Tony and the baby) therefore the rear-mirror syndrome has to be discarded, most especially now that all the hurt Femoo did has been turned to good through divinity. Moreover, if Enitan’s mum does not want the rejection she suffered from her parents to repeat itself, she has to let go. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy for her but sometimes the pills you take to cure serious ailments are not usually sweet. Let me conclude by saying if Enitan and Tony can agree to deal with it and move on, the parents on both sides have no option except they want to leave the rest of their life in inner pain, secret tears and anguish because that’s all a life of unforgiveness has to offer.

    Shalom!

    Kola Olanipekun

    ‎Hi Temi,

    This story is so very interesting. But there is something that is also unique about it and that is the fact that it’s a real life situation we have in our hands. Nonetheless, my advice to Enitan’s mother is this: LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE! As simple as it may sound, that’s the best option I feel is open for her at the moment. Bearing in mind that her daughter Enitan is pregnant for Tony the love of her life whom she (Enitan’s mum) confirmed to be a proper OMOLUABI! Truth is there is no point allowing the unknown sins of the father to be visited upon the children. Moreover, Dapo is a father Enitan never grew up to know. All her life, she had always known Mark to be her father, so why spoil this moment of joy for her? It’s better she keeps this to herself and if she feels like sharing it, then she may go ahead and discuss it with her husband, Mark. But mind you, life may never remain the same again in her household once the picture comes out. Has it even ever occurred to her that if she had passed on (died) before Enitan got to this stage in life and eventually married the son of her biological father’s killer, wouldn’t she have continued with her life happily married to the young man?  So, please my dear sister, if the happiness of your daughter tops your priority list, then kindly do let SLEEPING DOGS LIE!!!

    Emmanuel Odiagbe

  • Fighting a ‘common enemy’

    Fighting a ‘common enemy’

    For banks, frauds and forgeries are a big challenge. No matter what banks do to avoid these problems, they still rear their heads. Does that mean there is no way out? Stakeholders believe there is. At the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) conference in Lagos last week, they proffered the way out of the quagmire, writes COLLINS NWEZE.

     Many view banks with suspicion and the reason is obvious. It is believed that banks are the citadel of frauds, forgeries, among others. This is why some people do not put their money in banks. But are banks that bad? They may not be that bad, but their reputation is not helping matters.

    Banks too know that they are held in low esteem. This is what may have prompted them to take steps to curb fraud in the sector.

    Data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that in 2012, banks received and processed 6,274 complaints, via e-mails on various financial crimes, particularly advanced fee fraud.  There were 4,527 cases of fraud and forgery involving N14.8 billion and $1.6 million.

    The CBN also received and investigated four complaints against commercial banks. The cases were reported to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for investigation. Globally, estimated credit card fraud stood at $11 billion in 2012, making it one of the most significant criminal developments in modern times.

    These fraud statistics prompted the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) to take steps to stem the practice.

    Last weekend, the NeFF which comprises banks, Nigeria Interbank Settlement System, the Police and EFCC met in Lagos to discuss the way forward.

    Piqued by the rising electronic fraud (e-fraud), the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Bank Limited, Mallam Ahmed Kuru, called on banks to establish anti-fraud departments to curb the menace.

    Delivering a keynote address titled: “When all goes wrong: Mediation and arbitration best practices,” Kuru, represented by Head, Strategy & Corporate Transformation, Chuks Ekpunobi, said it was time for banks to collaborate to eradicate e-fraud, which he described as a “common enemy.”

    He said electronic fraud has been in an upward swinng since 2010 and needed to be checked. He said this was worrisome because the increase is in terms of the number, volume and sophistication driven by high powered technology. Unfortunately, however, he argued that bankers, auditors and internal control officials of financial institutions may not be as knowledgeable as the fraudsters.

    “Therefore, if we are to make progress in this direction, banks need to, as a matter of urgency, establish anti-fraud departments with staff that would always be ahead of the fraudsters in every sense of the word.

    “Every financial institution should take the issue seriously because this year alone, the industry has lost about N2 billion to electronic fraud from the first and second quarters. Should this trend continue, about N5 billion would be the estimated loss by the end of 2014. If this is not checked, the trend will lead to unbearable levels of capital erosion in the system,” he said.

    The establishment of anti-fraud units, he said, will provide continuous improvement initiatives in fraud control and present a platform for the implementation of viable fraud management solution to highlight deviations of fraudulent transactions from normal transactions; ensure compliance to Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCIDSS) initiatives of the CBN as well as guarantee the implementation of other Fraud Control measures and Security initiatives both on the network, and applications of the bank. It will also ensure the implementation of a Database Access Monitory (DAM) and Account Access Monitory (AAM) solutions, among others.

    While commending the organisers for choosing to deliberate on this trend that is plaguing the industry, Kuru said he sees the establishment of the NeFF as a collective step in the right direction in the attempt to eradicate e-Fraud in the financial sector because NeFF provides the opportunity for practitioners to share knowledge about global trend in e-Faud, industry trend as well as new methods of perpetrating fraud among other issues that affect every bank. He argued that this was the only way banks can protect their funds from relentless fraudsters.

    Interswitch, an electronic transaction switching and payment processing company called for an upgrade in the technology, processes and systems to proactively detect suspicious activities in place.

    In response to emailed questions, the firm said cardholders also need to be constantly educated on keeping their banking details fully protected.

    The firm said this has become important because fraudsters keep developing new fraud mechanisms to circumvent new security measures. The firm claimed it has adopted and holds certifications in the highest standards available in the payment card industry. “In terms of card standards, we are EMV 4.0 certified and in terms of security, we are Card Industry Data Security Standard certification (PCIDSS) V3 certified. We have also attained ISO 9001:2000 for our processing services,” it said.

    Continuing, it said aside such certifications, its Verve product, has a unique feature for card-not-present transactions.

    “A card-not-present transaction is a payment card transaction made where the cardholder is not physically present with the card at the time that the payment is affected. In order to safe guard cardholders when conducting card-not-present, we have introduced SafeToken. SafeToken is an online security technology that protects customers against unauthorised use of their cards via the web through the generation of One-time passwords (OTPs),” it said.

    Interswitch also said as a second layer of defence, it has also introduced Scorebridge which is a fraud management system that enables Electronic Financial Transaction (EFT) messages to be processed through predefined Artificial Intelligence in order to determine the transaction’s risk and probability of a fraud. This enables the monitoring of card patterns and declines suspicious transactions.

    “Banking security has got so many banks thinking about safety and reliability of their networks. What steps do you think that lenders need to take to guarantee customers’ transaction security and trust? Over the years, the banks have invested a lot in different security measures to guarantee customer transactions, but as a minimum, all banks should have the following measures in place: Defining a baseline security standard (such as PCIDSS) Educating customers on safe security practices when using their cards Investing in a fraud management system,” it said.

    On the cash-less policy instituted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), it said the direct cost of handling, processing and managing cash across the nation as at 2009, stood at N114 billion and could have increased if the cashless policy had not been introduced.

    “The good thing we have also done as stakeholders in the e-payment industry are to also introduce solutions that would drive adoption of the cash-less policy. These solutions have been designed to address the specific needs of the ordinary Nigerian towards the adoption of e-payment,” it said.

    Founder and Managing Director, DataPro Limited Abimbola Adeseyoju said criminals know that there are compliance procedures, such as Know Your Customer (KYC). They, therefore, come prepared, hence the need for lenders to go the extra mile in verifying their customers’ identities.

    He said fraudsters either modify their identity slightly, or create a synthetic identity which can be detected through a Link Analysis Solution. This applies advanced analysis to determine the risk level for both the network and every individual associated with the network, he said.

    Examples of attributes that could be shared and linked are Personal Identity Information, Account Information and Transactional Information.

    “Once the entities are linked together, advanced analytics are applied to determine the level of risk and create a risk score. The i2 Notebook used by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIUs), among others, enables them to search multiple data sources simultaneously, find hidden links and entities and visualise transactions and timelines,” he said.

    Adeseyoju advised financial institutions to pay special attention to all complex, unusually large transactions, or unusual patterns of transactions that have no visible economic or lawful purpose. Continuing, he said the lenders should investigate suspicious transaction and report its findings to the NFIU immediately.

    However, Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) have continued to promote and support the CBN KYC initiative. The lenders, analysts said, are omitting huge funds into the KYC project because of its immense benefits in fighting fraud.

     

    CBN’s actions

    Aware of these dangers, the CBN decided to set up a five-year Information Technology (IT) Standards for banks. John Ayoh, CBN Director, Information Technology, said the exercise would help banks identify and adopt global IT Standards that address industry problems. He said banks are expected to implement the plan on continuous basis and in accordance with set timelines.

    CBN said the introduction of chip and pin payment cards have led to drastic drop in ATM card fraud.  It said the CBN and other relevant institutions have been able to reduce card frauds considerably by instituting ATM Fraud Prevention Group and the NeFF. The groups are to enable banks to collaboratively share data on fraud attempts and proactively tackle them to reduce losses.

    The CBN also instructed banks to set and implement mandatory daily limits for ATM cash withdrawal, while other related transactions, including POS and Web purchases should be subjected to stringent limit as agreed and documented between the banks and customers. It said it is the responsibility of the banks to ensure that a trigger is automatically initiated when limits are exceeded.

    Speaking at the Committee of Chief Compliance Officers of Banks in Nigeria (CCCOBIN) in Lagos, Emefiele said Nigeria has adequate legal and regulatory measures that should address breaches to the KYC, Customer Due Diligence (CDD) and Enhanced Customer Due Diligence (EDD) provisions.

    “It is the application of these KYC provisions that are meant to reveal illegitimate sources of funds and trigger investigation by relevant stakeholders that matters. Like in many developing countries, compliance has been a major regulatory challenge in Nigeria,” he said.

     

  • Under ‘enemy’ fire

    There seems to be no let-up in the massacre that has taken over a sizeable part of the northern part of Nigeria. It is daily assuming a frightening dimension in spite of efforts by security agents to bring the ugly situation under control. And the casualty figure among the security agents themselves, particularly policemen, is on a fearful ascendancy. In actual fact, at no point in the last three years or more of the orgy of violence, arson and brigandage have we witnessed the type of ‘genocidal’ attacks on security agents as happened last week.

    First, it was at about 5a.m on Monday, May 6, in Bama, a sleepy border town in Borno State. That day, suspected insurgents popularly called Boko Haram attacked Bama at dawn. Fifty-five people, mostly security personnel – 20 policemen, two soldiers and 13 prison officials – were among the casualties. By the time the dust settled, a number of dangerous weapons, including improvised explosive devices (IEDs), assorted ammunition, rapid propelled grenades (RPG), general purpose machine guns, bombs and others were recovered from the ‘theatre of war’.

    The whole nation was still gripped in the throes of grief and mourning, when less than 24 hours later, precisely, at 12 midnight the same Monday, tragedy struck again. This time, in Alakyo Village, about 10 kilometres to Lafia, the Nassarawa State capital. A contingent of policemen who were on their way to a notorious shrine at Alakyo to effect arrest were ambushed at a point on their route by deadly, blood-thirsty cultists, simply known as the Ombatse – meaning ‘Enough’ – militia group. In the ensuing gunfight, 23 policemen were mowed down. By the last count, the casualty figure of the security agents may have risen to 47. This includes policemen and State Security Service, SSS, officials. Among the dead is an Assistant Commissioner of Police.

    Shortly after the bloody confrontation, a thoroughly frightened Tanko Al-Makura, the governor of the state, dashed to Aso Rock, the seat of government. There, he held a closed-door meeting with Namadi Sambo, the Vice-President who was holding fort for his principal, President Goodluck Jonathan, who was out on official visit to Southern Africa. He later told State House reporters that, prior to the Alakyo massacre, it was discovered that the militia group was holding arms and carrying out cult activities in the state. “Members of the group usually moved from one place to another, including mosques and churches, to attack helpless citizens, taking people from a particular ethnic group to come and take portions that are meant to empower them to do what they want to do. We took a decision to go to the shrine and pick on the cult leader so that the problem will be solved once and for all. As security operatives were approaching the shrine, unknown to them that ambush had been laid, these people attacked them,” Al-Makura said.

    Al-Makura was not alone. Gabriel Suswan, the governor of Benue State, was also in Abuja to report the clash in Agatu Local Government Area of his state. The clash also claimed the lives of people, including women and children, who were attacked in their sleep. He told State House correspondents: “I came to brief the Vice-President on the security situation in Benue… there are serious altercations between the Fulanis and the local farmers in Agatu Local Government… and they almost overran the local government. There were a lot of killings, a lot of property destroyed.”

    The three incidents above are as disturbing and confusing as they are worrisome. Bama to Alakyo is a distance of about 700 kilometres and nothing less than six hours’ drive. Besides, Nassarawa is a contiguous state to Abuja, the seat of government. And there is a common thread that ran through both the Bama and Alakyo attacks – ‘sorrow, tears and blood’ – as scores of security agents were callously hacked down.

    One disturbing scenario here is that criminals seem to have become more emboldened to confront security agents and slaughter them mercilessly at will. Last week alone, if you add the figure in Alakyo (47), Bama (33) – policemen, soldiers and prison officials – you will get 80. If you add that to the 11 policemen who were posted on guard duties in Bayelsa, but were recently attacked on the high seas, it gives a staggering figure of 91. The bulk of this figure, about 68, are policemen. Considering the rate these killings are going, the numerical strength of the police is being rapidly depleted. And come to think of it, how many policemen does the nation have? About 370,000, and this insufficient number is being further run down in the orgy of massacre that has gripped the nation. I am quite sure that most of the arms and ammunition of the slain security agents may have also found their way to wrong hands. This will certainly enrich the terrorists’ ‘war’ arsenal to the detriment of the nation’s security.

    A friend and a very senior police officer in Abuja agreed with me that there might have been a possible operational error in the attack in Alakyo. According to him, “I suspect there was either a failure of intelligence or that the movement of the security agents was leaked to the cultists, or they had a mole within who gave them advance tips. Otherwise, it was a moving force that was mercilessly dealt such a big blow.” When I told him that the police should have deployed helicopters for surveillance or reconnaissance duties before storming the notorious shrine, he agreed. He then emphasised that modern-day crime fighting should evolve the use of hi-tech equipments so as to be far ahead of the criminals.

    The escalation of violence against security agents may be a fall-out of the kid’s glove approach the nation has been adopting in tackling growing insurgency and banditry across the country. It is high time we rose to the growing challenge and check the rising impunity with which the criminals have been carrying out their deadly exploits.

    My police officer friend believes that those who attacked Bama were not Boko Haram insurgents, but a certain group of bandits who operate along Birnin-Gwari axis. His argument is that the real Boko Haram agents have somehow gone a bit cold because of effective security coordination in the northern part of the country, especially in recent times. But then the rise of different militias or gangsters all over the place is a sign that things are really snowballing out of control. We have heard about Oodua People’s Congress, OPC, in the South-West; Egbesu Boys and a surfeit of others in the Niger Delta; MASSOB in the East; and now the Ombatse in Nassarawa State. Yet there are more than a thousand and one such criminally-minded groups mushrooming on a daily basis all over the country.

    Al-Makura said that the Ombatse group had been identified since January this year, when their satanic exploits escalated. But what did he do to immediately clip their wings? That was how Boko Haram grew to become the monster it has assumed. Lack of decisiveness and political will to crush these groups must have been providing the oxygen needed to fester and become a malignant tumour to the nation.

    A foreign journal captured it succinctly in a headline last week: “From motorcycle fighters to grenade throwers”. Now, those who attacked Bama had RPG and anti-aircraft guns mounted on 4×4 wheel vehicles. Perhaps, we are moving to the era where these terrorists will involve the use of fighter jets for bombing raids. The way things are going, we may wake up one day to discover that Aso Rock is under heavy shelling, both aerial and land bombardments, by terrorists.

    This is the time for our security agencies to sit down and decisively address this growing insurgency and violence all over the place. There is also the need to create employment and put food on the table of Nigerians. There are far too many idle hands and hungry mouths which are fertile grounds for easy recruitment to all forms of banditry now plaguing the country. God help Nigeria!